Skills gap analysis

What is skills gap analysis?

Skills gap analysis is the process of comparing the skills your people have today against the skills they need to hit business goals. It shows you exactly where to focus training.

Example: An instructional designer runs a skills gap analysis before building a new sales-enablement course. They survey reps and review performance data, then learn that most struggle with objection handling. That insight shapes the whole course.

You’ll see gap analysis show up early in workplace training projects and e-learning design. It’s the step that turns a vague “we need training” request into a clear, focused plan you can actually build.

Why skills gap analysis matters

When requests pile up and everyone wants their course yesterday, a skills gap analysis tells you where to aim first. It points you straight at the skills that matter most, so you spend your build time on training people genuinely need. That focus saves hours and gets the right course out the door faster.

It also helps you prove impact. When you tie a course back to a specific gap, you can show leaders the before-and-after: the skill was missing, you built the training, and the numbers moved. That’s a far stronger case than “we shipped ten courses this quarter,” and it earns you trust and budget for the work ahead.

How to run a skills gap analysis

Start by defining the skills each role needs, then measure where people stand today through surveys, assessments, manager input, and performance data. Map the gaps, rank them by business impact, and turn the top ones into learning objectives. From there you can move fast: draft a course in minutes with AI Assistant, build responsive lessons in Rise or custom interactions in Storyline, and roll it all out through Reach so you can track who’s closing the gap. Revisit your analysis regularly, since skills needs shift as fast as the work does.

Related terms

• Competency-based learning
• Continuous learning
• Employee training